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Well, it’s not the Zelda you’ve known and loved but it’s still Zelda. It’s not a full length adventure or even an adventure for that matter; it’s just a small pack-in game with the Wii Zapper. All it’s for is to get you used to the Zapper, kinda like what Wii Sports did for the Wii. It’s still fun though but it might only last you a few days.

DESIGN

As a pack-in game for the Wii Zapper, it has a good price. The Wii Zapper is only $19.99 (in Canada) and with a free game, you have to get it. Now, the whole premise of Link’s Crossbow Training is to shoot targets that appear in different locales from Twilight Princess. There’s Arbiter’s Ground, OrdonVillage, GoronCity and many others. There are also different targets. There are normal targets, special bonus targets, targets that detract points and various enemies. For the targets, you get 50 pints for a bullseye, 30 point a little further from the bullseye and 10 points at the very edge. For bonus targets, it’s 150, 100 and 50 points. On certain stages, a green enemy will appear. You shoot him a few times and you get a rapid fire crossbow for a bit. There are also scarecrows around certain areas. You shoot their bodies until their head fully inflates and you shoot their head. Finally, there is random pots you can shoot for 5 points each.

There are also many different stages. There is 9 groups of stages, 3 in each. That equals up to 27 stages overall. Now, once you complete all 3 stages, the scores from each individual stage are added together and you get a medal for the amount you get, 20 000 for a bronze, 40 000 for a silver, 60 000 for a gold and 80 000 for a platinum. You unlock more stages by completing the groups of stages before it. Unfortunately, these stages are only about a minute long each so it won’t last you long.

GAMEPLAY

Of course, you should play it with the Wii Zapper. Thankfully, there are only 4 main actions. The first one is obvious; you point at your target and press the B button to shoot an arrow. You can also hold down B for a charge shot but it takes awhile to charge and is therefore pointless. The one bad thing about the pointing is turning the screen; it takes a while to turn. You can also press the Z button to zoom in but this is also pointless. On certain stages, you are allowed to walk around. Obviously you move with the control stick. Unfortunately, moving and trying to turn the screen is confusing and a big annoyance.

PRESENTATION

It would have been nice if the graphics got an upgrade from Twilight Princess but I guess it’s OK if it didn’t, Twilight looked good anyways. There is also the music from the game. There’s the GoronCity music, a slight remix version of Hyrule Field and various others. The sound of the bow is still very realistic sounding.

All in all, this isn’t a bad game. No, it isn’t much but it isn’t supposed to, it’s just a pack-in game that helps you get used to the Zapper. The biggest flaw is walking and shooting but luckily, there aren’t many of these stages. You might not want to get the Zapper for this game (even though I did, only because it’s Zelda), but it’s still worth a try.